i;nnubUD  J  jj 


liilliliiliiililiiiliililiiliiliiiliiii 


I¥o.  68, 


NOW. 


lo-day^   if  ije   icill  hear  his  voice,   harden,  not  your  heart  — 

Ps.  xcv.   7. 

«•  I  have  long  known  that  unbelief  was  my  misfortune, — hut  0, 

sir,  until  to-day,  I  kneio   not  that  it  was  my  guilt." 

MY  dear  fellow-mortal,  whoever  you  are,  I  now,  in  the 
name  and  presence  of  God,  and  in  Christ's  stead,  lay 
before  you  my  message  ;  even  this  record,  "  God  givoth  you 
eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  His  Son.,'  The  free,  the  full, 
the  sincere  gift  of  eternal  life  through  Christ  Jesus,  is  at  this 
moment  held  out  to  you  whose  eyes  now  rest  upon  these 
words.  Trifle  not  with  it — put  it  not  fi'om  you,  I  entreat  of 
you — you  have  to  answer  for  this  very  offer — your  accepting 
of  it  will  from  henceforth  make  you  eternally  happy — your 
refusal  may  be  the  signal  for  the  door  of  mercy  to  close  for 
ever  1  Hear  me,  0  hoar  me  then,  just  as  if  you  saw  the  gate 
of  heaven  moving  in  its  portal,  about  to  be  eternally  closed 
— "  Be  reconciled  to  God  !"  Behold  in  the  sorrows  and  death 
of  His  Son  a  perfect  atonement  for  sin,  and  a  pledge  that  He 
is  reconciled  to  yovjr  salvation.  O  why  then  will  you  not 
come  to  him  ?  Did  you  but  know  how  sweet  it  is  for  a  mourn- 
ing, heavy-laden  soul  to  rest  itself  on  the  finished  work  of 
Christ — and  in  assurance  of  hope  to  look  forward  to  a  peace- 
ful, perhaps  a  triumphant  death — to  a  glorious  resurrection — 
to  an  eternity^  ns  full  of  bliss  as  an  infinite  God  can  make  it 
to  be — to  look  thus  forward,  and,  in  the  exercise  of  faith,  to 
say,  '■  All,  all  is  mine  ?  for  Christ  is  mine,  and  lam  his  !"  if 
you  could  know  the  sweetness  of  this,  even  in  a  faint  degree, 
readily  would  you  say,  "  I  will  go  with  him  !" 

But,  sinner,  if  we  part  as  we  met, — if  you  lay  down  this  lit- 
tle messenger  as  yon  took  it  up,  unbelieving,  and  liaving  no 
desire  to  believe — then  must  I  tell  you  what  remains  for  you  : 
"  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  dwnned.    Kay,  it  is  not  only 


2  NOW. 

a  "  shall  be  "  but  at  tliis  rery  moment  you  are  in  a  con- 
demned state  :  "  He  that  believeth  not,  is  condemned  already, 
b<  cause  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God."  This  one  act  of  unbelief  is  enough  to  sink  3'ou  into 
everlasting  misery.  And  wherefore  ?  Because  it  is  down- 
right blasphemy.  ''  He  that  believ2th  not  God,  hath  made  him 
a  liar — because  he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God  gave  his 
Son."  Is  not  that  blasphemy  ?  and  j^t  you  who  receive  not 
with  the  heart  the  message  of  salvation,  are  guilty  of  it. 

Immediate  repentance,  immediate  faith,  immediate  conver- 
sion to  God  through  Jesus  Christ  crucified,  are  your  immedi- 
ate duty  ;  and  not  to  perform  this  duty  is  your  immediate 
guilt.  It  is  of  no  use  to  say,  that  you  "cannot  do  these 
things  without  the  grace  of  God."  Grace  does  not  create 
duty  ;  for  duty  exists  before  grace,  and  is  independent  of  it. 
You  are  bound  to  repent  and  be  converted,  because  God  re 
quires  it,  although  there  had  been  no  Saviour  and  no  salva- 
tion. He  that  pleads  the  want  of  grace  as  an  excuse  for  not 
submitting,  shows  that  he  is  one  of  those  that  ^^willoiot" 
turn,  and  the  death  of  such  he  must  die,  without  remedy. 

Are  you  not  a  sinner  «o?<J  f  This  you  will  not  deny.  Are 
you  not  under  sentence  of  condemnation  %o«f7?  Is  not  the 
anger  of  God  as  present  as  sm  is  ?  Are  you  not  then  already 
in  danger  of  the  judgment  ?  and  is  there  a  moment  in  which 
you  may  not  perish  eternally  ?  Are  not  your  blessings 
cursed  now  ?  Do  you  not  feel  now,  in  the  blindness  of  your 
eye=,  the  hardness  of  your  heart,  the  forerunners  of  eternal 
death  ?     Why  then  delay  1 

Is  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  a  Saviour  now  ?  Is  not  his 
sacrifice  finished,  and  his  intercession  begun  ?  Does  he  not 
live  now  ?  Can  he  not  save  now  ?  Will  he  not  receive  you 
now  ?  Is  he  not  actually  saving  multitudes  of  sinners  on 
this  earth  now  ?  Whilst  you  are  delaying,  are  not  others 
coming  to  Him,  even  now?  and  will  not  many  more  come  t® 
Him,  to-day,  to-morrow;  and  every  day  hereafter,  until  the 
last  sinner  come,  and  every  now  is  occupied  ?  and  why  then 
do  YOU  delay  to  come  to  Christ  ? 

Is  not  the  gospel,  which  is  the  message  of  Christ's  love  to 
you,  true  now?  Can  it  ever  be  more  so?  Is  it  not  perfect 
and  fixed?  What  it  ever  was  to  others,  is  it  not  that  now  to 
you  ?  What  it  shall  be  to  the  end  ot  the  world,  i*  it  not  that 
to  you  at  this  instant?  Can  it  ever  be  more  gracions  or  free 
than  now  ?  Can  it  ever  come  nearer  to  you  than  at  this  pre- 
sent time?  Can  it  ever  be  of  greater  authority  than  now? 
Can  there  ever  be  more  of  God  in  it,  more  of  Christ  in  it, 
more  of  the  Bpir  it  in  it,  than  now  ?  Can  it  ever  have  a  more 


KOW.  O 

individual  application,  a  more  personal  offer  to  you  than  now  1 
]^o — never — vrere  you  to  live  a  thousand  years  : — the  gospel 
never  chan^^es  ;  then  why  delay  to  receive  it  ? 

Is  not  faith  the  same  now,  that  ever  it  can  be  ?  Is  it  not 
the  same  truth  ttiat  must  be  believed  ?  Must  not  the  same 
sou'  also  now  as  hereafter  perform  that  act  o(  faith  ?  Must 
not  the  same  understanding  discern,  the  same  heart  receive, 
the  same  conscience  submit,  the  same  very  person  be  con- 
verted, now  as  then  ?  Present  truth  demands  present  belief: 
present  grace  demands  present  acceptance  ;  even  as  present 
law  demands  present  obedience,  and  a  present  judge  demands 
present  judgment.  Is  it  not  so?  If  you  propose  beHeving 
and  being  converted  a  ye-ir  hence,  must  it  not  be  \t\  that  very 
way  which  is  your  duty  now  ?  Why  then  delay  to  believe 
and  repent  *> 

Is  not  present  delay,  present  sin  ?  If  a  thing  be  my  duty 
now,  then  not  to  do  it  now,  is  not  to  do  my  duty  now,  which 
is  a  sin.  If  a  thing  is  not  my  duty  now,  then  in  not  doing  it 
now,  there  is  of  course  no  dela}-,  and  therefore  no  room  for 
sin  ;  it  is  the  presentness  of  the  duty  which  constitutes  the  sin 
of  delay.  If  I  ought  to  believe  now  and  repent  now,  and  do 
not,  then  am  I  guilty  now.  A  resolution  as  to  the  future  is 
no  substitute  for  pre><ent  action  ;  it  is,  in  fact,  a  refusal  to  per- 
form duty  until  that  time  come  which  we  have  selected  ;  and 
he  that  delays  for  a  time,  does  wilfully  sin  during  that  period. 
To  resolve  to  be  converted,  shows  that  you  hold  it  to  be  a 
duty  fi)r  which  you  are  accountable  ;  to  put  it  off,  declares 
that  you  prefer  continuing  in  an  unconverted  state  ;  thus  you 
are  your  own  judge,  and  convict  yourself  of  present  sin.  If 
you  are  a  sinner,  you  oueht  not  to  advance  one  step  further, 
but  now  to  turn  and  believe  in  Christ  with  your  heart  unto 
salvation.  Why  add  the  sin  of  present  impenitence  to  that  of 
past  iniquity  ?  why  delay;  of  purpose,  when  delay  is  sin  ? 

Present  unbelief  entails  present  condemnation — for,  "He 
that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already,"  but  delay  is  unbe- 
lief, and  therefore  entails  condemnation  every  time  it  takes 
place.  As  long  a-  a  man  returns  not  to  God  through  Jesus 
Christ,  he  is  sealing  up  his  former  sentence  of  death,  by  taking 
out  a  new  sentence  of  death  in  addition  to  it.  A  man's  curse 
therefore  as  a  sinner  is  heaping  up  every  moment,  and  his  dam- 
nation doubling,  without  end,  whilst  he  puts  off  coming  to 
C'lrist,  and  closing  with  Him  as  his  Lord.  0,  that  men  would 
then  consider,  what  account  they  can  give  of  themselves,  even 
to  themselves,  at  death  in  judgment,  and,  above  all,  in  eternity, 
wnen  they  find  that,  by  the  poor  device  of  delay,  they  have 
brought  themselves  into  the  lowest  perdition  of  Hell !    Then 


must  the  past  pleasures  of  delay  become  the  present  agonies 
of  tbe  eternal  dying  ! 

And  what  excuse  can  you  plead  for  such  del  iy  ?  The  iJ;os- 
pel  is  sent  to  you  as  now  ^ou  are  j  not  as  you  ouee  ^^  ere  or 
may  hereafter  be — tbe  only  conoitiou  is  accept auee,  free  ac- 
ceptance, present  acceptance,  per>onal  acceptance,  corilial  ac- 
ceptance. "  Hear,  and  yoursoul  shall  live  !"  What  you  are 
is  what  the  gospel  respects  in  you  j  what '  3''OU  need  is  what 
the  gospel  offers ;  to  wait,  therefore,  on  the  plea  of  not  be- 
ing good  enough,  and  of  wishing  first  to  become  better,  is 
self  deceit,  and  a  lie  against  the  gospel.  The  best  work  you 
can  now  perform  is  to  believe  now,  and  to  turn  now  ;  and, 
without  this,  all  intended  preparation  is  but  condemnation. 
Nay,  so  far  from  'jain'nu;  or  becoming  better  by  dehiy,  you 
lose  and  become  worse.  Your  heart  becomes  harder,  your 
mind  darker,  your  sin  greater,  your  time  shorter,  your  bur- 
den heavier,  your  love  less,  your  terror  more^  heaven  further, 
hell  nearer,  God  more  angry,  the  Spirit  more  grieved,  the  Sa- 
viour more  dimly  seen,  the  go^pel  more  powerless,  ministers 
more  faint,  friends  more  despondent,  prayer  less  importunate, 
providence  more  unfelt,  the  world  stronger,  the  flesh  mor© 
exacting,  Satan  mightier,  and  the  drowsy  slumber  of  the 
second  and  eten.ai  death,  now  at  hand,  more  frequent  and 
irresistible  J  Then  shall  that  word  be  fulfilled,  it  may  be:  "I 
will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  and  mock  when  your  fear  Com- 
eth upon  you  !  Ye  shall  call  unto  me,  but  I  will  not  answer  I'* 
Reader,  is  that  meant  ^ov  you?  -What  know  you  but  it 
may  ?  . 

Arise,  flee — the  way  is  before  you — hold  on  straight  before 
thee,  but  make  speed — haste  thee,  haste  thee  !  Behold  that 
Throne  of  Grace.  Behold  that  Mediator,  with  the  blood  oi 
sprinkling,  before  it.  See,  He  i>  an  Advocate— an  Interces- 
sor for  transgressors;  go  up  to  Him  now  in  thine  hearts-put 
the  catalogue  of  sin  into  His  hand— see  how  He  smiles  over 
thee  witL  love  inexpressible — receive  the  sprinkling  of  His 
blood  on  thy  conscience.  Now  lift  up  thine  eyes.  He  who 
sitteth  on  that  TiJ rone  unseen  is  the  eternal  Eather  I  He 
who  led  thee  to  this  Ttirone  is  the  Blessed  Spirit,  the  Com- 
forter !  He  who  now  holds  thee  with  a  kinsman's  hand  be- 
fore the  tlu-one,  i.s  Jesus,  the  "  Suffering  Saviour !"  and  that 
blessing  whieb  is  now  Issuins:  from  the  throne  unto  tiee  is  a 
free,  lull,  present,  and  everlasting   "  Salvation  by  Him'!" 


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